A judge ruled that Hoboken must release police station appraisals a developer requested at the begging of the year, with the city indicating they will appeal.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“It is … ordered that the actions of Defendant in refusing to provide access to the requested Appraisal records, as described and defined in Plaintiff’s Verified Complaint, are unlawful and contrary to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et. seq. and the common law,” Hudson County Superior Court Assignment Judge Jeffrey Jablonski ruled on October 6th.
“Defendant shall pay Plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs … Defendant shall release immediately to Plaintiff the records requested in Plaintiff’s Verified Complaint.”
In a letter to Jablonski on October 11th, Jessica CM Almeida, an associate at McManimon Scotland & Baumann, says the city plans to file a motion for an interlocutory appeal and request for a stay, pending a hearing from the appellate division.
“The City has requested from the Hudson County Transcript Office, a transcript of the reasons set forth on the record on October 6th, 2023 and intends to file the Motion after receipt and review of the same.”
Represented by three attorneys from Newark-based law firm Gibbons P.C., Just Block 112, LLC – a subsidiary of Pegasus Partners – indicated that they filed an OPRA request on January 27th.
They sought “a copy of all appraisals performed on 106 Hudson Street (Block 212.01, Lots 4 through 11) (the ‘Property’), together with certain other government records related to any such appraisals.”
They also sought a copy of a November 2022 resolution approved by the city council awarding a $9,500 contract for Lasser Sussman Associates LLC for appraisal services, all correspondence between the company, and Community Development Director Chris Brown, any orders or invoices related to the property between October 2022 until the present day, and all appraisals for the property.
In connection to their lawsuit over the Western Edge project, which received approval from the planning board in May following a judge’s ruling, Just Block 112 believed Hoboken ordered the appraisal to be completed by December.
While the council voted against having the planning board determine if the zone in question was in need of redevelopment in April 2022, the exact same measure passed the following month, as HCV first reported.
Then in November, the governing body voted to designate an area in the 1st Ward that included the police station as a redevelopment zone, following the determination of the planning board.
It is sad that in order to get what should be public documents one has to hire lawyers spend thousand of dollars and force the Bhalla administration to release their.
Have to wonder why they are keeping them secret ?
What are Hoboken taxpayers paying in legal fees to keep the secret ?
The residents of Hoboken deserve answers but Mayor Bhalla will never them to be answered.
This is not because we are living in a litigious society. This is because those who govern us are arrogant.